Gov. Pawlenty will appear on this page Wednesday for his Facebook Town Hall.

Washington (CNN) - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will host his first "Facebook Town Hall" meeting Wednesday, focusing on the 2010 elections. The governor will log on to his Facebook account, deliver opening remarks and then field reaction and questions about how Republicans can organize around the 2010 elections.

"Gov. Pawlenty wants to use the latest technology and social networking tools to connect with more Americans and talk about the issues facing our country," Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant said in an e-mail. "This will be like a regular town hall, except we'll be able to take questions from around the country thanks to new online tools."

The Facebook Town Hall is part of a concerted effort Pawlenty, who is considering a run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, is making to reach out to the online community. During the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington last month, Pawlenty met with bloggers during a special happy hour and has been active on numerous social networks including Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. On Facebook, Pawlenty has over 31,000 fans following him.
Hosting a Facebook Town Hall is becoming increasingly more common. A similar event was hosted by Rep. Joe Wilson in January moments after President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. The Republican congressman from South Carolina, know nationwide for his "you lie" outburst directed at Obama last year during the president's prime health care address to Congress, delivered a live video address on Facebook and then responded to questions submitted during his speech on the social network. Obama and a number of high-ranking officials in the administration have also used Facebook on numerous occasions to engage directly with users.

"Social media has encouraged unprecedented openness in politics and government and we're eager to see this phenomenon continue," Andrew Noyes, a spokesperson for Facebook's Washington D.C. office, told CNN. "Web sites like Facebook have helped reconnect citizens to their leaders and vice versa. The 2008 U.S. election was a watershed moment for civic engagement and social media and 2010 is shaping up similarly."

soundoff(16 Responses)

Poor old chipmunk,he had a chance till he joined in with the radical rightwing militants.

March 29, 2010 05:10 pm at 5:10 pm |

andrewstl

tiny tim i wish you luck!

you will need it.
you appear as weak kneed and feable as most repubs.

see ya later

March 29, 2010 05:12 pm at 5:12 pm |

Larry

Can't wait to see how many tune in for that!

March 29, 2010 05:15 pm at 5:15 pm |

Ryan D

Going to predict an EPIC fail. Technology to deliver a message or allow someone to express an idea is a great concept – a way to get reach young voters. But real time interaction?

You have seen the real town hall's and their complete disregard for any civility, yes? Now, take out the face to face interaction or ability to remove the unruly from the room.

1. He will get trapped in a corner.
2. He will be verbally abused
3. Nothing constructive will come out except for more divison.

Example: See any political post forum on the internet – like below. Now picture if these were real time. Good luck !

March 29, 2010 05:20 pm at 5:20 pm |

Marie MD

That's great bozo. You announce you are hip, like a high schooler, on the same day that there's a facebook story and how people are trying to hide it from possible employers.
Way to go.

March 29, 2010 05:22 pm at 5:22 pm |

Michael from Ventura

A gop Town Hall on Facebook--How will the spitters, brick-throwers and gun shooters do their thing on the Net? Man, they must feel very intimidated.

March 29, 2010 05:57 pm at 5:57 pm |

FLAGSHIP, NC

I would like to know how the GOP is now different or will be different then the policies of the former GOP Bush administration.

I am not hearing any change in direction or operating procedures.
The same players are making plans and forming ideas. I am just hearing that they want to be elected and get in to office.

Where are your new ideas?
How are you expected to help America coming from the party of NO.

Being Conservative means "going back to how things were before".
That was what got us in to this mess!

March 29, 2010 05:59 pm at 5:59 pm |

javier

what a loser

March 29, 2010 06:10 pm at 6:10 pm |

Rick

Governor Pawlenty isn't ready to be President, nor will be be ready in 2012. Although he's smarter than Sarah P., he doesn't have what it takes. Sorry Tim.

March 29, 2010 06:13 pm at 6:13 pm |

Craig

Good for Gov Pawlenty... This is an opportunity for everyone to attend from the convenience of home.

He's done well here in MN, despite the other hate-comments I've read so far on this board.

I will be attending this town hall meeting!

March 29, 2010 07:02 pm at 7:02 pm |

Jay T.

Honestly. You look at any picture of Tim Pawlenty and tell me he is presidential material.

March 29, 2010 07:17 pm at 7:17 pm |

Gerry NH

Nothing so far made any sence.

March 29, 2010 07:20 pm at 7:20 pm |

Victim of GOP Taliban

Oooh how cute. A Republican that knows how to use a computer and appear like he's tech saavy.

March 29, 2010 07:21 pm at 7:21 pm |

EBC

WHY is it that Republicans NEVER hold these Town Hall meeting LIVE on National TV? It's because they KNOW they can't handle ALL the questions that they will have to answer to.

Republicans have backed themselves into the walls with all this REPEAL and REPEAT.

March 29, 2010 07:23 pm at 7:23 pm |

carlos

with his 31,000 fans he could get elected in Wasilla.....and how did that end for the hag? poor town was bankrupt when she left and the dude was also running city hall as well as the governor s office.........great going repulsives

March 29, 2010 07:57 pm at 7:57 pm |

jay in denver

TIm Pawlenty became a fan of "I bet we can find 1,000,000 Republicans Who Believe the Internet is a Series of Tubes."

The GOP: Using 21st Century technology to build the bridge back to the 19th.